USER EDITORIAL: The Villain

It doesn’t make sense, and it never will. Was James Holmes a monster? Or just a sick man in need of help never received? I offer a different point of view on this "evil" man..

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By ADDICT - 7/23/2012

If a man driving on the expressway suddenly had a stroke and his car veered into an oncoming traffic, causing a traffic crash so bad 10 people died and the man who had the stroke survived, would you want him punished? There is a misconception about what mental illness is. It can happen just like this where it comes on suddenly or it can slowly consume you over months or years. Most people are rational and have coping skills, they can handle or know when to get help when dealing with difficult emotions or problems with strange thoughts. Our brains function as they should, as they were obviously intended, we have a healthy mind. Holmes’ mind was broken.

A disorder of the mind causes certain behaviors that seem strange to the healthy functioning mind, mental disorders such as Autism, Tourettes, Alzheimer’s, Schizophrenia and many other disorders of the mind cause individuals to act in ways that seem disturbing to the common man. These people were also likely born with some these disorders and/or over time the disorder developed and the symptoms were revealed and if these people were lucky enough that they were diagnosed and treated. Holmes was probably born with this defect as well. Unfortunately no one noticed the symptoms of Holmes’ disorder and Holmes was probably not capable of recognizing his own behavior as abnormal and over time he worsened. Holmes probably doesn’t even know why it was so important to plan and execute this entire tragic event. He just did it, like a dog chasing cars.

This is why he found the Joker’s logic so appealing. Holmes was experiencing chaos of the mind and it led him into an abyss he couldn’t come back from. He walked around feeling like an alien. He couldn’t relate to anyone anymore. No one understood. He felt he couldn’t just tell someone he was having homicidal ideations, they would laugh, they wouldn’t take him seriously, and they would say he’s a weirdo, they would reject him. Maybe he felt too proud. Maybe he feared being cast further into his isolation and self imposed exile. So he stayed quiet. He kept to himself. And he made his plan. He would have to open the doors of his madness. He would have to show them. Somehow this made more sense to him then explaining what he was feeling and thinking. No one could deny this. No one would laugh. No one could reject him. He would have everyone’s full attention and they would understand what it felt like to wake up every day as James Holmes. He would change things, forever.

Now Holmes sits in a concrete cage, like a wild animal, while the people wait outside to see him put to death like a rabid dog. To see him punished for taking all of these innocent lives without reason. Evil is to blame they will say, he is just evil and that is good enough for us. A force of the unknown compelled this young man to murder these people and he is an inadequate human being because he couldn’t resist this force. Look at him! We have captured our MONSTER! We will punish this MADMAN! We will let him BURN and he will SUFFER! And the power of good will prevail! The power of the normal!

I believe cognitive behavioral education should start in first grade and continue on throughout high school. I believe understanding emotion is just as important as any other subject taught in school. Maybe the most important subject, because what else could be more important the knowing who you are. I believe we can all take some responsibility for that horrible day. I believe Holmes is a victim too and I will grieve for him as I grieve for the people who lost their lives in such a horrific way.

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You see this sort of punishment has been going on throughout human existence and it hasn't changed anything because a broken mind can not comprehend consequences. As long as we continue to think we can stop this behavior by using fear it will never end. More people will lose their lives.

Although some of what you said about the mind is true Mr. home therapist. Calling this guy a victim, Is a slap in the face to those of us who love and value life. If it was your son or daughter, father or mother, friend or love one would you be sing the same tune.

Whenever something bad or tragic or horrifyingly terrible happens, there is a reason for it. You can dig until your hearts content to find the reason and once you have spent your entire life deliberating over it, you'll find the reason made no difference at all on the outcome of the situation. Maybe it will make you feel better to understand the mind behind these actions. It wouldn't do a damn thing for me and I know it won't help the families of the victims involved.

Is something broken/not working properly/unstable, in this mans mind? Without a doubt. However, seeing as you compared him to a monster or a rabid dog, maybe you should do the right thing and offer to house and look over him in your home (along with any rabid dogs you can rescue), next to your family members until he can be rehabilitated and released out into society. And heaven forbid, if he fools you into thinking he's okay and does the same thing all over again, we can hold you responsible for his actions since he never could be.

Are you f'ing kidding me with this BS??? I wish I could go back and time at the exact moment of conception and f-ck your mother so you'd have HALF a chance of ending up not so f-cking idiotic. Even if this guy had a mental problem, he still needs to be punished for his actions. Really? This is the kind of nonsense on main?

Of course he's not a "monster", it would be so much easier to accept if he was. He's a human being. But a sick, twisted, human being who committed an unfathomable evil crime, and should be punished for it.

Had a pretty awesome idea last night, since everyone and their moms are trying to get Christian Bale to go to Colorado as Batman, a group of 70 people (12 killed, 58 injured) can go and all dress as Batman as well. Such a symbolic effort would speak volumes more then words could.

I condemn his actions. I'm not saying what he did was acceptable because it was horrible. I'm saying maybe it's time we look at this in a different way. Like Einstein said, "The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over expecting a different result." I don't believe it is in human nature to kill each other. I believe murder can be overcome. I believe the more we understand ourselves the closer we will come to our evolution as a peaceful species. But fighting fire with fire never works. Never.

Life is about choices, the paths presented to us & we make choices. We choose to do things, right things or wrong things. Mental illness does not erase a persons sense of right & wrong, it doesnt mask it & it doesnt change it. It is a fundamental aspect of human life that we are thought about from an early age & it will never change.

Mental illness or not, he knew what he was doing when he bought those weapons & 6000 bullets.

He knew that guns kill.

He knew that alot of people were going to be at the cinema at that time.

He loaded his guns & he went to the cinema, parked his car & walked, waited for the right moment & killed all those innocent people. He chose to do that.

That was his choice & he chose wrong & he knew it! By writing this article you have defended what he has done & made an excuse. There are no excuses.Holmes is a cold-blooded, heartless, coward & a complete waste to the human existence. I hope he burns in hell & so should you!

Obviously his mother knew he was "ill" or just crazy, she even said she didn't doubt that it would be him, before they even knew who it was. She also deals with this type of "sickness" and what did she do about it??

whoever wrote this article is a moron and he should be beaten within an inch of his or her life, your crazy you should be in the cell with this coward, what if one of the killed was your mom, dad, or child youd be calling for justice and blood. your an idiot and i wish i could meet you and slap the stupid out of you!

To whoever is telling 'Addict' to go and die or personally insulting him needs to take a step back. I don't agree with him at all but I'm not going to say he needs to die or insult him and his family. That's moronic. Guy can express his opinions, doesn't mean he should be insulted for them, even if they are over such a tragic event.

@ ADDICT: So far, it hasn't been said for sure that this guy is sick, you just assume he is and starts making excuses..? Why is it, every time somebody does something horrible/evil/unnormal or whatever you wanna call it, people trip over themselves to shout out that this has be a sick person.. He may just as well be an asshole and you among others hurry and give him an excuse for his actions..

Jesus man you seem to relate to this guy, is this your way of releasing your inner demons?... Because this guy hasn't even been diagnosed yet... It sounds like you have similar minds and understand this guys angle... or... maybe this IS whats happening in his head. Strange but an interesting read however

Why are people arguing over the fact that this guy is nuts? Look what he did! No one in there right mind would do such a thing. He does need to be put down like a rabid dog because thats what he is! If he had killed one of my family members the SOB wouldn't even make the trail!

I agree with this completely - just not the timing of the article although I think it takes guts to offer another side of the story. But yeah, too soon as the wounds are still very open, but having studied behaviors and specializing in the study of autism and Asperger Syndrome, I have quite a good understanding into behaviors. He is obviously an intelligent man and high performing IQ's are quite often linked to persons with Asperger Syndrome. They also suffer from severe bouts of depression.

Ultimately he may not be non compos mentis and the courts will have to make that decision. I don't agree with the notion 'an eye for an eye' - as Ghandi said, 'It would only leave the whole world blind' which is why I have never and will never agree to the death penalty.

I'm not defending his actions - taking any life is a cruel, sick and vile thing to do and being a staunch Atheist I see life as too precious a gift to take any other persons.

So yeah, I'm not defending him, but I would want to do better as to understanding him. The students who committed the Columbine Massacre we're obviously guilty of murder, but sometimes things are more complicated than they seem at face value. I don't think anyone who could commit such a terrible crime could be of sound mind.

The one thing that does shock and disgust me are the responses from the CBM Community verbally abusing someone for trying to be objective and understand something from another angle. Again, too soon perhaps, but I am more concerned about responses like 'i wish i could meet you and slap the stupid out of you' and 'I hope he burns in hell & so should you'. That equally disgusts me.

Yes it is true we can become more vigilante to watch for warning signs earlier on in life to identify and treat people accordingly that suffer from these types of sickness'. That being said this young man took the lives of 12 people and seriously wounded many more. Regardless of why he did this there has to be repercussions to his actions. It is said that alcholism is a disease so does that mean a drunk driver should not be charged when they kill someone. Same could be said for a drug addict. Or a drug user who experiments with mind altering drugs and commits a crime. Kleptomaniacs steal because of an urge should they be excused. Bottom line is he killed 12 people and has to be held responsible for his actions whether he was fully aware of his actions or not. He has chosen whether willingly or not that he does stand fit to be part of society and therefore should be removed from society. His case should only be used as a possible indicator that we do need to be more vigilante in identifying these types of sickness' in the future and treat them before they reach this point. But once they do reach these points they should be treated the same as any who plan and then carry out such serious crimes.

Okay... I am a nurse, and agree completely with your assessment that this man POSSIBLY has some serious mental instabilities/diseases. However, if this is the case, that doesn't mean that he is exempt from punishment. In fact, it means that he should be punished so he can learn to be normal. While I will say that the death penalty is severe, this man should be locked away so he cannot harm anyone else. James Holmes is a threat to himself and everyone around him. People like Mr. Holmes need to be isolated from the general population within a facility that will treat him for his 'condition'.

I can definitely agree to the scenario involving a driver having a stroke, and innocent lives dying as a result; however, in reading this article, the author is presuming that the alleged shooter (I say this only because he hasn't been convicted...yet), already has a confirmed diagnosis of some sort of mental illness. I think that one could postulate that in order for him to carry out this heinous act that yes, there is some level of mental illness involved. But, I think that we need keep in mind that there are people in this world that are evil...pure and simple. They have no regard for the difference between right/wrong, good/evil, or moral/immoral. If insanity, on whatever level, was a justifiable defense for murder, then every serial killer throughout the history of mankind would have been found not guilty...every one of them.

You know for fans of Batman and his rules against killing and fighting fire against fire, you guys sure are willing to crucify this guy. Did any of you get the moral of TDK of did you just like seeing Batman fighting Joker?

Evil is the word we assign to a bad behavior we cannot find reason for. Just as we've assigned good for the things we know. Do you really think Holmes' punishment will eradicate these types of crimes against people? Do you think his punishment will take away the pain? Will bring back the lives lost? What will his punishment do? The answer is nothing that will prevent others just like him from repeating this kind of tragedy.

He has a disorder, psychopathy. His attack was premeditated and he knew outright was he was doing. The fact that he brought in the Joker just emphasises this. The Joker fully understands his own actions, he, like this psychopath, just doesn't care. This man planned to throw the tears gas, planned to kill 12 people and planned to place bombs within his apartment. He never once showed an ounce of mercy on anyone in that theatre and I believe he should be kept in prison for the rest of his life. I can't agree with the death penalty because I don't think that's the answer. You're right when you say he can't function within our own conventional society and that's why I believe he should be locked up to keep from harming others. There's no justice for these family in killing this man, that's just vengeance and vengeance is never a good thing. I can't pretend to understand what they're going through, but seeing as this happened at a Batman movie, I'll say this. Batman let his parent's murder consume him and he became a monster. The people need to just in time accept what happened and move on with their lives and I believe most will with time, but killing this man will resolve nothing even though I believe wholeheartedly that he knew exactly what he was doing that night.

Wealthy child of a wealthy family getting a degree to practice medicine... is the victim? Sounds more like a spoiled brat throwing a tragic tantrum... but you have the right to defend whomever you choose.

We're dicks! We're reckless, arrogant, stupid dicks. And the Film Actors Guild are pussies. And Kim Jong Il is an asshole. Pussies don't like dicks, because pussies get [frick]ed by dicks. But dicks also [frick] assholes: assholes that just want to shit on everything. Pussies may think they can deal with assholes their way. But the only thing that can [frick] an asshole is a dick, with some balls. The problem with dicks is: they [frick] too much or [frick] when it isn't appropriate - and it takes a pussy to show them that. But sometimes, pussies can be so full of shit that they become assholes themselves... because pussies are an inch and half away from ass holes. I don't know much about this crazy, crazy world, but I do know this: If you don't let us [frick] this asshole, we're going to have our dicks and pussies all covered in shit!

@Xandera - But it's interesting though isn't it? I mean, Christopher Nolan makes a two and a half hour long movie, that ends up being one of the biggest movies of all time, just to try and persuade the audience into thinking that sometimes to beat the bad guy you simply can't play his game because that's what he wants. The fact that he called himself the Joker means that he believed in the Joker's philosophies, which means that he wants the world to burn, which further entails that he wants all of you to end up like him: a blood thirsty monster. And, judging by these comments, he's won.

Good article but he's not getting the crazy plea from me. If I remember correctly, a lot of the crimes that make big new regarding mental illness dont have this type of elaborate planning. The guy booby trapped his apartment for christs sake. Idc wat anyone says, you dont cop a insanity plea and plan the way he did.

All the disorders mentioned above can be identified during someones life. I don't think someone can spontaneously become a murderer overnight, to suggest that he is a victim in need of help after what he has done is out the question in my opinion. However, I do think he has a serious behavioral condition (judging from the descriptions of his personality: quiet, smart, introvert etc.) but this shouldn't be an excuse nor should it lead to accusations about the educational system. He went through the educational system all the way through to university. If there was something seriously wrong with him, a teacher would have picked up on it.

I am a persistent reader of CBM.com and very rarely comment on any news articles. However, I come onto CBM for just that, comicbook movies. Opening more debates like this can be cancerous and (in my opinion) should be avoided. Let the news channels discuss these issues (gun control another hot topic) and lets continue to visit this site for the same reason we always have. We've already got nolanites and mavelites at each others throats, we don't need any more divisions.

@Areajerm - People are angry, and who can blame them... let them have their rant and angry comments... Some of us are trying to be logical about the situation, but when hate and rage enter a person's mind, logic flies away... Regardless of his Mental Status, James Holmes is a killer and should be treated as such...